Committees to host joint public hearing on fairgrounds bills

Nashvillians will have the chance to weigh in on proposals that could settle the immediate fate of the 117-acre Metro-owned fairgrounds.

The council’s Budget and Finance Committee and Codes, Fair and Farmers Market Committee are hosting a joint public hearing on Monday, Jan. 10, at 5:30 p.m. on two bills related to the fairgrounds, council members Megan Barry and Vivian Wilhoite announced in a letter on Monday.

One of the bills, sponsored by Barry and four other council members, would keep the Tennessee State Fair and expo center at Nolensville Pike for at least another year, while demolishing the property’s racetrack to make way for a new 40-acre park. The bill is set for the first of three votes on Dec. 21.

Another bill, deferred last month at the request of its sponsor, Councilman Duane Dominy, would essentially keep the status quo at the fairgrounds, including the preservation of the racetrack.

In a letter sent to council members last week, Dominy requested a special work session to compare his bill with the other ordinance to “engage in a public dialogue” in order to determine the best way to move forward.

8 Comments on this post:

I hope that the council will remember who voted them in and will not cave to Karl Ding's wishes to destroy the race track, an historic Nashville tradition.

By:pswindle on 12/7/10 at 9:41

Dean still wants the fairgrounds, and if he is re-elected, he will have it. Also our property taxes will go up after his re-election because he needs money for the convention center. I hope Nashville wakes up and lets this guy go after one term.

By:gdiafante on 12/7/10 at 11:15

Re-elect Dean, nuke the fairgrounds.

By:airvols on 12/7/10 at 12:34

Whimps, these councilmen who don't support job growth. Let's run them out of office this next election and make sure Karl Dean has no obsticles to moving this city forward. Fire the rednecks!

By:karlwithak on 12/7/10 at 12:39

More people are in Opposition to this plan than voted to elect karl in the last election.....

Repeat those words in your head metro councilmembers, see that foot tall stack of signatures from voters at Dominy's desk tonite.

That's yours and deans political future sitting in that stack of handwritten signatures by ANGRY voters!

That stack will grow another foot or two by election day !

How you vote is like wearing a BIG SIGN that says

I'm HONEST and with the people (opposed)

Or I'M BOUGHT AND PAID FOR BY DEAN and damn the people who voted for me (in favor of deans and reibelings plans)

It really is just that clear. And the people are watching and taking notes.

Dino spent several million dollars for his 50k votes, TV, Radio, promises to Howard Gentry and Buck Dozier of jobs with 6 figure incomes after the election (Where do they work today, how much do they make, and who did they endorse ?)

That's a lot to money just to be able to control other peoples lives by puppet strings, most people would just be happy marrying a millionaires daughter and doing good things for the community.

By:Community-carl-... on 12/7/10 at 3:32

It's becoming pretty obvious to those of us who are native Nashvillians, and/or lived here for decades, that the only Metro Council persons with any guts are the ones who are willing to sincerely represent their constituients' views by standing up against the corrupt Karl Dean administration.

Anybody with a lick of common sense can see that Dean is either totally out of touch with reality, or else operating in a manner that is strictly self-serving for him and his elitist friends. Either scenerio is shameful and wrong, and must be stopped .....otherwise Nashville's citizens are going to be paying a dear price for years to come.

By:airvols on 12/7/10 at 5:27

The vast majority of the people want this thing gone. Bring on the election.

By:nethick on 12/9/10 at 1:18

Never take economic development advice from anyone who tells you that a race track in the southeast cannot make money. 200,000 people in Bristol twice a year cannot be wrong.

The Nashville wine and cheese crowd would rather subsidize baseball and hockey than make money on racing. Go figure.